![\"Sunderland's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skynews-lutsharel-geertruida_7200048.jpg\")
<\/p>\nToday’s derby clash between Newcastle United and Sunderland was temporarily paused after a report of “discriminatory abuse”, the Premier League has said.<\/p>\n
The crowd abuse, during the second half, was reported to have been directed at Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida, the league’s statement said.<\/p>\n
It said the stoppage was “in line with the Premier League’s on-field anti-discrimination protocol” and the incident at St James’ Park in Newcastle would now be fully investigated.<\/p>\n
“We offer our full support to the player and both clubs,” the Premier League said. “Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.”<\/p>\n
There had been tense scenes between fans outside the stadium before the match, which Sunderland won 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Brian Brobbey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image:
\n Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka and Lutsharel Geertruida celebrate after the match. Pic: Reuters<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from Newcastle United said: “We are aware of a report of racism made by a visiting player against someone in the crowd during our Premier League match against Sunderland.<\/p>\n
“Our stance is clear – we do not tolerate discrimination of any form.<\/p>\n
“We will work with the authorities to fully investigate and will ensure any individuals are identified and held accountable.”<\/p>\n
Northumbria Police also confirmed one arrest was made before the game, with images on social media showing opposing fans “goading one another”, the force said.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to have an increased police presence in the city centre,” a spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
Following the game, police released a further statement: “We can confirm we are aware of a report of discriminatory abuse during the Tyne-Wear Derby between Newcastle United FC and Sunderland AFC.<\/p>\n
“As a Force, we condemn all forms of discrimination and we will always look to take swift and appropriate action against offenders.”<\/p>\n
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.<\/p>\n
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.<\/p>\n
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app<\/a>. You can also follow us on WhatsApp<\/a> and subscribe to our YouTube channel<\/a> to keep up with the latest news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today’s derby clash between Newcastle United and Sunderland was temporarily paused after a report of “discriminatory abuse”, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-557196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}